Kobe lost when he said yes to the contract. The implications of it were obvious, then and now. Not bashing him in any way- its ok to choose the money over rings, guys do it all the time. Melo just did it too.

Kobe lost when he said yes to the contract. The implications of it were obvious, then and now. Not bashing him in any way- its ok to choose the money over rings, guys do it all the time. Melo just did it too.

Yep, I can't get mad at Kobe because I probably would have taken the money too if I already had 5 rings.....

I think it's dumb when people talk about Kobe's contract limiting what the Lakers could do this free agency.

Melo wasn't coming, Lebron wasn't coming, Pau wasn't coming back unless one of the people that were not coming, came. none of the top players were coming to LA. they all took max contracts to stay where they were at, except for Lebron who took max to go home.

Am I disappointed in what the Lakers plan D was? definitely, but putting it on Kobe's extension is dumb.

I think it's dumb when people talk about Kobe's contract limiting what the Lakers could do this free agency.

Melo wasn't coming, Lebron wasn't coming, Pau wasn't coming back unless one of the people that were not coming, came. none of the top players were coming to LA. they all took max contracts to stay where they were at, except for Lebron who took max to go home.

Am I disappointed in what the Lakers plan D was? definitely, but putting it on Kobe's extension is dumb.

notice in my original post i said nothing about lebron …..didnt want him on the lakers …I'm not a fan of the can't beat em join em which lebron clearly represented for the past 4 years

Kobe lost when he said yes to the contract. The implications of it were obvious, then and now. Not bashing him in any way- its ok to choose the money over rings, guys do it all the time. Melo just did it too.

Kobe's contract isn't what did the Lakers in, it did limit some of what they could have done this offseason but the reason why the Lakers are in the position they are now started long before Kobe's deal

"Blake and Parker are good at canceling each other out till our bench point guard comes in" - Majesty aka Bird Ish (12/4/13)

I think it's dumb when people talk about Kobe's contract limiting what the Lakers could do this free agency.

Melo wasn't coming, Lebron wasn't coming, Pau wasn't coming back unless one of the people that were not coming, came. none of the top players were coming to LA. they all took max contracts to stay where they were at, except for Lebron who took max to go home.

Am I disappointed in what the Lakers plan D was? definitely, but putting it on Kobe's extension is dumb.

You can't divorce Kobe's contract from the problem's the Lakers faced in Signing FAs. Kobe had a great career but it will end with an unceremonious thud.

I think it's dumb when people talk about Kobe's contract limiting what the Lakers could do this free agency.

Melo wasn't coming, Lebron wasn't coming, Pau wasn't coming back unless one of the people that were not coming, came. none of the top players were coming to LA. they all took max contracts to stay where they were at, except for Lebron who took max to go home.

Am I disappointed in what the Lakers plan D was? definitely, but putting it on Kobe's extension is dumb.

I thought it was delusional to think that LBJ and Melo were coming too, but that does not preclude looking at the next level of impact FAs that could have come if we had the $ to sign 2 or more of them. So let one of the "dumb" posters spell it out for you:

-Kobe delays signing until ... oh about now ... like Dirk did.

-FO has major $ to chase 2 max or close to max players not named Melo and LBJ. Deng, Bledsoe, Monroe, Stephenson, Gortat, and still has $ for guys like Thomas. Would we have overpaid for 2 from that group? Probably. But when you have virtually no draft picks, you have no other choice to get talent.

-We sign 2 from the previous group, now we have a talent core, counting Randle. Other 2nd tier FAs are attracted. You think Pierce, Carter, Blatche etc would have listened when we called if he already had say Deng, Monroe and Thomas in the fold? You think Pau makes a different decision?

-Then, you approach Kobe and convince him to take a modest deal like Dirk's. Does he do it? Likely yes, because he has a shot at something his last 2 years.

-Looking forward to 2015/ 2016, are we more of an attractive destination to Love, Durant and Westbrook as well as other premier FAs? I think so.

It is NOT a great plan, because the cupboard is bare. But is IS a better plan that what the FO has put together so far.

Kobe's contract isn't what did the Lakers in, it did limit some of what they could have done this offseason but the reason why the Lakers are in the position they are now started long before Kobe's deal

Kobe's contract put the last nail in the coffin. It's scary to think if 2015 and 2016 (kd) they have the same offseason, lakers f**** for years

Kobe's contract isn't what did the Lakers in, it did limit some of what they could have done this offseason but the reason why the Lakers are in the position they are now started long before Kobe's deal

That's true and a lot of that stems once again from overpaying on earlier Contracts, and the Lakers refusal to get younger. The FO bungled it's way to irrelevance the last two years and now there is no other option but to rebuild.

I thought it was delusional to think that LBJ and Melo were coming too, but that does not preclude looking at the next level of impact FAs that could have come if we had the $ to sign 2 or more of them. So let one of the "dumb" posters spell it out for you:

-Kobe delays signing until ... oh about now ... like Dirk did.

-FO has major $ to chase 2 max or close to max players not named Melo and LBJ. Deng, Bledsoe, Monroe, Stephenson, Gortat, and still has $ for guys like Thomas. Would we have overpaid for 2 from that group? Probably. But when you have virtually no draft picks, you have no other choice to get talent.

-We sign 2 from the previous group, now we have a talent core, counting Randle. Other 2nd tier FAs are attracted. You think Pierce, Carter, Blatche etc would have listened when we called if he already had say Deng, Monroe and Thomas in the fold? You think Pau makes a different decision?

-Then, you approach Kobe and convince him to take a modest deal like Dirk's. Does he do it? Likely yes, because he has a shot at something his last 2 years.

-Looking forward to 2015/ 2016, are we more of an attractive destination to Love, Durant and Westbrook as well as other premier FAs? I think so.

It is NOT a great plan, because the cupboard is bare. But is IS a better plan that what the FO has put together so far.

Stop making sense, it will only upset the people still defending Kobe's extension.

clearly Jim and Mitch didn't know what to do with all that extra money in front of them. Palms got all sweaty, d!(k$ got all hard and drained all the blood from their brains lol. How in the faQ can you go "all in" without knowing how to put things together? Geezuz! I had a feeling when they went both for Melo and Lebron (stupid), then offered Melo the max ("stupidurr"), then when both were not clearly coming, we went and overpaid JHill, Swaggy laughed all the way to the bank (that pissed me off), shouldve given that dough to Bazemore IMO, got nothing for Pau (held on too long)! We got Lin (meh), another flexibilty move...for NEXT YEAR! Wow. Nash's nerves are still irritated and he's still broke physically, but manages to play soccer? Did I miss anything else? Seems like Jim and Mitch missed on a lot lol. Only way I can forgive these tools if JRandle and JClarkson pans out and become allstars, max, or even very productive and "we can be proud" to be Lakers players! I know they're rookies but for some reason I'm excited to see these two play for us. Last time I felt like this for rookies? 1996,